Shadow Play: Reclaiming the Disowned Self

Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. At all counts, it forms an unconscious snag, thwarting our most well-meant intentions.

~ C. G. Jung

The shadow is any part of ourselves that we unconsciously repress or deny; it is everything about ourselves that we diminish, discount, dismiss, distort, suppress, depress, and repress. It is what we bury, what we want to hide from the world. When we ignore the shadow, our life narrows and we become disconnected from ourselves and from others; we are out of touch with our deeper nature, our passion, and our potential. Mistakes, misunderstandings, conflicts, addictions, obsessions, compulsions, and depression are often indications that the shadow is demanding our attention. This discontent is actually vital energy awaiting transformation.

This transformation of consciousness is the work of the soul. As we excavate our personal “dynamic ground,” we reclaim our wholeness and awaken to the untapped potential and possibilities within ourselves. To divine this elusive shadow, we will use our imagination, movement, breathwork, and play. Through journaling, Gestalt, guided imagery, dialoguing, and psychodrama, we can learn how to reclaim ownership and integrate those dissociated aspects of the self; to experience and rejoice in the light and dark treasure that is you.

I am considering taking your Shadow Play workshop at Esalen Oct 26-31. I am 45 year old professional woman from Santa Cruz, Ca. I am taking on some PTSD issues from childhood trauma with a therapist weekly. I fear the shadow you speak of. Is this a recommended workshop for someone with PTSD (childhood abandonment and neglect) manifesting in adult
problems with love, trust, relationship.